Berlini shines in the Members Cup; Size draws closer with treble

21/06/2015

The David Hall-trained Berlini (128lbs) caught the eyes of racing fans at the Members’ Day today (Sunday, 21 June) at Sha Tin when he came home with strong finish outside in the Members Cup (1400m Handicap), the feature event of the ten-race card.

With Gerald Mosse on board, Berlini settled last in the early stages. Turning for home Mosse gradually shifted the horse to the outside, and on the rain-affected ground the five-year-old son of Dubawi showed great acceleration getting the better of the nearest rival Modern Tsar (124lbs) by one and three quarter lengths. Colossus (121lbs) ran on well in the final stages to claim third. The winner clocked a time of 1:23.90.

Winning trainer David Hall pointed out after the race that the rain could only be positive for the horse. “The rain creates a little bit of tempo. If it were a good track today probably there would be no tempo. With a slower track everyone goes forward and the fast tempo keeps the horse from over racing, which suits him and we know that if the horse can find his form he will be very competitive,” Hall said.

Meanwhile, the trainers’ championship continues to draw great attention as John Size landed a treble at the meeting to draw within three of John Moore. Size got the day started with a win from the debuting So Fast and earned a quick double when Diamond Friends took the fourth race. Thewizardofoz eased away with the seventh race, a Class 3 handicap, and remained unbeaten in three starts.

As Caspar Fownes was winless today, Size regained the second spot in the trainers’ premiership with 57 wins, one ahead of Fownes. It was John Moore landing a double to maintain the advantage with wins from Cheeky Too and Smart Man.

Size was still cautious about fighting for his eighth championship title in Hong Kong but he was delighted with his three-year-old youngster Thewizardofoz.

“He is a good horse, and he will be one of my better horses next season,” Size said. “He keeps on improving and at the time being, I will stick to 1200m for him.”

Moore described the current trainers’ premiership table as “building into a cliffhanger” after he completed a double today with Smart Man.

“It makes the premiership battle more interesting,” Moore said. “I am pleased to keep somebody going. Smart Man was not a too consistent runner but today he clearly enjoyed the give in the ground. I reckoned before the race if he could get away from the inner rail and raced in the centre of the track he would have a chance. Anyway, it’s a plesant surprise to me.”

On the other hands, jockeys’ championship runaway leader Joao Moreira also landed a treble with Bamboo Dance, Cheeky Too and Thewizardofoz. After landing a treble, he led the jockeys’ table with 132 wins. Zac Purton remained in second spot with 89 wins and Douglas Whyte in third with 72 wins.

Should Purton reach the 100 win mark this season, it would make the first time in Hong Kong history that two jockeys have cracked the century mark. The dual-century chance was last alive in the 2009-10 season when Whyte nipped 100 while Brett Prebble fell one shy, capping his season at 99. Whyte, meanwhile, is on the verge of cracking the 75-win plateau for the 15th consecutive season.